CINEMATIC LIVE PRODUCTION TECH
Rather than documenting the event in a traditional broadcast style, the focus was on cinematic moments: sweat dripping from a player’s face, blades of grass exploding into the air in ultra slow- motion, a golfer framed in silhouette against the setting sun, or close-ups captured with extreme telephoto lenses. “It‘s not about what‘s actually happening,“ Tipton says. “The producers were solely judging us on how awesome the shot is.” The same aesthetic is finding its way into live broadcasts. DSLRs mounted on DJI Ronin gimbals, paired with fast primes and AF systems, allow operators to move among NFL players and deliver cinematic images directly into live workflows. “It‘s absolutely obvious when they cut to those shots,” says Tipton. “They look beautiful. Everybody is doing it now because it‘s a look that simply wasn‘t possible a few years ago.” Tipton selects the right camera for the job. “If I‘m shooting a scripted movie with a lot of night scenes, I‘m probably going to choose a Sony VENICE because it‘s got a dual ISO capability. But it’s terrible to shoot golf with because the camera weighs like a boat anchor. “If I need run and gun, I‘ll shoot ALEXA because that‘s a lighter-weight form factor. If I need slow motion, I’ll shoot Phantom. My preference is ARRI because its cameras are designed for filmmakers so there’s not a lot of menus. You want to be focused on image capture, not the menu structure.” For the US Open golf job, Tipton and fellow DOPs were told to bring whatever camera and lenses they wanted. “It’s all about capturing the coolest shot.”
SHOOT TO WIN Tipton (left and above) says sports directors now want to use all tools available to them
© JOHN TIPTON
ALEXA 35 Live, he believes that broadcast workflows still offer greater certainty over the final image. He also highlights the technical challenge of LED stage lighting. According to Davis, colour processing systems within some cameras can react unpredictably to the spectral characteristics of LED fixtures, occasionally producing inaccurate colours. “People often add half a dozen PTZs because they‘re relatively inexpensive, but matching them to the main cameras can be difficult. SPORTS CINEMA TAKES THE FIELD Larger sensors and the widespread availability of cinema glass have given sports broadcasters access to the same visual language long associated with Hollywood productions. “Over time, we‘ve got these bigger and bigger sensors,” says 11-time Sports Emmy Award-winning director of photography John Tipton. “Now the cameras can accept a PL mount. All of a sudden you‘ve got an enormous number of lenses available.” The engineering teams end up diving through menus trying to make everything line up.”
Traditional broadcast cameras relied on B4 lenses designed for 2/3- inch sensors, offering relatively limited creative options. Today‘s cinema- orientated systems support everything from Cooke S4 primes to ARRI Signature Primes, allowing broadcasters to shoot sports promos, opens and feature content with the shallow depth-of-field and visual texture typically associated with film productions. “We‘re shooting Super Bowl opens as if it‘s a commercial shot on film, but it‘s a video camera,” Tipton explains. “It‘s been a gradual evolution, but it‘s really a confluence of sensor size, camera technology and lens development.” That evolution reflects a growing appetite among sports producers and directors for more cinematic storytelling. “Sports producers and directors watch movies, they‘re sensitive to visual aesthetics, and now that we have access to these tools it was very natural to apply them to live.” Tipton recalls working on a US Open golf broadcast where Fox Sports invited five cinematographers to bring whatever equipment they wanted and simply capture the most visually compelling imagery possible.
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